The Industrial Gabon that President Ali Bongo Ondimba seeks draws “on the local transformation [of] raw materials. For it is true that no country can grow by exporting raw materials only. The dynamic trend started with the production of ferro-manganese will thus be consolidated, thanks to the exploitation of new manganese deposits, the construction of new railway sidelines and the exploitation of Belinga iron ore. In the long term, Gabon has the vocation to become a metallurgy centre, with a dynamic fabric of SMEs exporting iron-based products to the whole sub-region and beyond. Similarly, a petrochemicals centre will develop, with the conversion of hydrocarbon resources and the production of fertilizer.




Gabon's mining tradition dates back to the 1960s, with the opening of two large mines (U, Mn). When the Uranium seam dried up, COMUF was closed. On the other hand, Comilog is today the 2nd largest producer of high grade manganese in the world, the largest producer of manganese-based products for the chemicals industry in the world, and the 2nd largest producer of manganese alloys for steel making.

After reaching an annual production of more than 40 t during the colonial period, gold was the centre of a craft trade. But the current trend is towards the industrialisation of the sector: Moroccan company Managem will operate the goldmines in the region of Haut-Ogooué starting form the first half of 2011.

Given the dependence of the Gabonese economy with respect to hydrocarbon exports, the Gabonese government has decided to diversify the economy, thanks to the sectors of tourism and natural resources (fishing, wood, oil and mines), and contribute value-added to its raw materials.

The objective to be achieved is to increase the management capacities of the mining sector.

Gabon presents a number of advantages:

• A diversity of mineral resources characterised by occurrences or deposits of base metals, niobium, phosphate, barytine, potash, talc, etc.
  
  
• Infrastructure, a domain in which the government has committed several investments. The financial efforts made in this domain have permitted the following achievements: railways, telecommunications, deep water port, road networks, airports…
  
  
• A politically stable country, in which a peaceful society, already well established under the late Omar Bongo Ondimba, is destined to continue under the action of Ali Bongo Ondimba. Peace was, in fact, well preserved during the democratic transition process following the death of the late Omar Bongo Ondimba. The volume and quality of the surveys carried out constitute a non negligible geological infrastructure for the investors we hope will be increasingly numerous in our country. These surveys and data, which are sometimes in digital form, are available to potential investors

Since Ali Bongo Ondimba acceded to the Highest Office, activity in the mining sector has been intense. For example, the project to exploit the Belinga iron deposits by Chinese investors is taking shape; the Moroccans from Managem intend to exploit the gold deposits at Bakoudou and Russian firm Gazprom has expressed an interest in Gabon's gas.

To further this embellishment of the mining sector, the Minister of Mines, Oil and Hydrocarbons, Julien Nkoghe Bekale, has announced future reforms at the beginning of 2010 to “Understand and integrate the vision of emerging Gabon advocated by the President of the Republic, Ali Bongo Ondimba and adapt the legislation and regulations in force to the new situation created by the advent of an emerging Gabon”.

2010 will also see the creation of the SNH, the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures and the organisation of an International Gabon mining promotion Conference.

Sources
Projet de société d'Ali Bongo Ondimba
Eramet
Communiqué de la société Managem